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Background: Over recent decades, autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been of increasing epidemiological importance, given the substantial increase in its prevalence; at present, clinical diagnosis is possible only after 2 years of age. In this study, we sought to develop a potential predictive model for ASD screening. Methods: We conducted a longitudinal follow-up study of newborns over 3 years. We measured transcript levels of 4 genes (superoxide dismutase-2 [SOD2], retinoic acid-related orphan receptor-[alpha] [RORA], G protein--coupled estrogen receptor-1 [GPER], progesterone receptor [PGR]), 2 oxidative stress markers and epigenetic marks at the RORA promoter in case-control umbilical cord blood mononuclear cell (UCBMC) samples. Results: We followed 2623 newborns; we identified 41 children with ASD, 63 with delayed development and 2519 typically developing children. We matched the 41 children with ASD to 41 typically developing children for UCBMC measurements. Our results showed that children with ASD had significantly higher levels of H3K9me3 histone modifications at the RORA promoter and oxidative stress in UCBMC than typically developing children; children with delayed development showed no significant differences. Children with ASD had significantly lower expression of SOD2, RORA and GPER, but higher PGR expression than typically developing children. We established a model based on these 4 candidate genes, and achieved an area under the curve of 87.0% (standard deviation 3.9%) with a sensitivity of 1.000 and specificity of 0.854 to predict ASD in UCBMC. Limitations: Although the gene combinations produced a good pass/fail cut-off value for ASD evaluation, relatively few children in our study sample had ASD. Conclusion: The altered gene expression in UCBMC can predict later autism development, possibly providing a predictive model for ASD screening immediately after birth., Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has been of increasing epidemiological importance, given the substantial increase in its prevalence over the past 2 decades, (1) with heavy economic and social impacts, [...]

The interface stability is of great significance for maintaining the high output performance of thin‐film thermoelectric devices. Here, it is demonstrated that by introducing a Ti layer and controlling its thickness, the interface stability relating to element diffusion, contact resistance, and mechanical strength can be regulated at Bi2Te3/Cu interfaces. After heat treatment, the multilayer interface with a thickness of 270 nm for the Ti layer has a stable structure that can suppress element diffusion, maintain a low specific contact resistivity (7.49 × 10−6 Ω cm2) and obtain an excellent critical load (58.1 mN). These characteristics are achieved because the Ti film with a thickness of 270 nm can keep multilayer interface stable, maintain the interface as effective junctions, and alleviate stress release. Due to the diffusion of Cu, the Cu‐Te compounds are formatted and Cu diffusion into Bi2Te3 is generated in the interfaces. Meanwhile, the results show that the Cu diffusion into Bi2Te3 has a greater impact on contact resistance than p‐CuTe in the interface. The work provides a general method for maintaining the reliability and stability of multilayer interfaces in thin‐film thermoelectric devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]